20pd chapter 4
by Queen Nami
Summary: edit


**20**_**Perfect**_**Dates**

**Chapter 4**

**Date 3: Sasuke**

"Eh, I thought you said you were bad at Shogi." The skeptical brunette cocked an eyebrow, as Sakura merely shrugged in response and moved another piece on the board.

"I said I _didn't_ play, I never said I was bad." Sakura shot a smirk in his direction, as he also moved a piece. Ever since the day they met, the pair had been hanging out –whenever Sakura was off work of course, but that didn't seem to stop him from lounging in the hospital.

Sasori surprisingly hadn't contacted her in the last couple of days. She couldn't help but feel slightly suspicious about that, but pushed those troubles to the back of her mind, not wanting to earn a headache from the thoughts that included the red head.

"You're quite good, probably the best I've played in a while." He nodded thoughtfully, not noticing the light blush that spread across the pinkette's cheeks.

"Thanks, I guess." Sakura mumbled, lowering her gaze once she placed another piece in a different position on the board. A small smile crept its way onto her face, along with her slowly fading blush. She cleared her throat, momentarily distracted as she lifted her head back up, her emerald eyes clashed with his dark orbs that held an unreadable expression.

Shikamaru sighed, quickly averting his eyes away from the clearly confused girl. She had _no_ idea what she did to him, unless of course she eventually figured it out. That little shy look would drive practically any man crazy for her, not that he wanted that, he already found out that he had Sasori as competition, he didn't want this to become more troublesome than it already was.

"Checkmate." Her angelic voice broke his thoughts as he had realized that he had been absentmindedly been playing, a happy grin already curling at the corners of her lips as she laughed.

"I...lost." Shikamaru blinked, not once did he ever lose at this game –and yet, this girl he meets merely days ago had beaten him in one game. She definitely lasted longer than Ino, that was for sure, she barely even lifted a finger before giving up, saying something about it 'wasting too much energy'.

Sakura smiled softly before reaching out for his hand and squeezed it in a reassuring manner, but that didn't seem to help the flaming blush that crossed the bridge of his nose.

"Don't worry Shika-kun! We have plenty of time to play this, so you can improve and maybe even beat me in the future." She winked playfully, a fake smug tone leaking in her voice as laugher escaped her lips, and soon after Shikamaru smiled and let out a small chuckle.

The idea of spending more quality time with Sakura was music to his ears, although she spent most of her time during work hours, she would usually go out for a coffee with him. Ino, unfortunately 'found out' that they were friends and couldn't have been more delighted, which again struck suspicion throughout Sakura's mind.

"How about we watch some TV?" Sakura inquired, flicking her bangs out of her eyes as she stood up from her seat, slightly loosing the feeling in her legs as she leaned against the wall to regain her balance.

"Sure." He answered, shrugging nonchalantly, as he also stood up from his seat towards the couch where Sakura was already sitting with the remote in hand.

Once they were settled in, the pinkette pressed the on button, and almost immediately the news channel sprang to life. The usual stories that were replayed on the news flashed back as Sakura was about to change the channel for the cartoons, when she saw noticed something different in the news and turned the volume up higher.

"_It has been reported that Sasuke Uchiha himself has confirmed to the public about the rumors that he will soon be engaged, many of his fans were devastated by the news as it spreads nationwide—"_

"Ugh, I hate Sasuke Uchiha." Sakura rolled her eyes, as she tapped the button, finding a different non-Sasuke related channel before leaning on Shikamaru's shoulder. "At first, I thought he was cute," Sakura admitted, closing her eyes for a minute, as the brunette's face darkened at the mention of the raven haired male who held Sakura's affections.

"But later on when I found out that he turned out to be another playboy, I... just didn't like him anymore." She confessed, pain glinted in her eyes as she opened them again, slightly adjusting her head on his shoulder.

Shikamaru relaxed when he the words 'I just didn't like him anymore' rang thorough his ears, but detected a small amount of hurt lace her words. He softly stroked her tresses, as they fell back into place, relishing the touch for the moment.

"Then I guess you've had your experiences with that kind of boys, huh?" He inquired, hoping that he hadn't gone into an unspeakable topic. Sakura let out a bitter laugh, which in turn made Shikamaru inwardly wince; maybe he shouldn't have mentioned anything.

"Yeah, you could say that." She answered, her jade orbs lingering on the screen for a moment before sighing. "But, let's not talk about that." She smiled sadly as she shyly glanced at Shikamaru from the corner of her eye, to see Shikamaru looking somewhat relieved.

"Well, whenever you want to talk about it, I'll be here." He spoke sincerely, but couldn't suppress his discomfort of the situation.

Sakura beamed at the brunette before innocently throwing her arms around his neck, her depressed mood seemed to be left forgotten as she hugged the embarrassed male, whose face blushed red.

"Aw Shika-kun! I'm so glad I have you as a friend." She mumbled into his shirt, her arms stayed clinging to his neck before gradually releasing her arms, until he surprised her by holding onto her hands. Sakura blinked in confusion before lifting her gaze towards his, the unreadable emotion flickered in his dark orbs, that seemed to create an involuntarily shiver that ran up her spine.

"Sakura, there's something that I've been meaning to tell you—"

Shikamaru was forced to pause when the door suddenly opened, revealing a freshly dressed Ino, who held a simple black dress in hand. Although he loved Ino, as a sister like figure of course, she did sometimes tend to be unbearable to be around.

"_Foreheaad!"_Ino squealed happily, seemingly unaware that she had quite _rudely_interrupted his half finished confession, as she flaunted her newly brought dress that was mostly covered by her black coat.

"What, Ino _pig_?" Sakura cocked a slender pink eyebrow, feeling slightly curious to what Shikamaru was going to say; obviously she was oblivious to his affections, she just assumed that they were friends, that were unusually close for two people that had met merely days ago.

Sakura, although a smart girl, was quite slow whenever romance was involved. Ino on the other hand, absolutely adored attention and had a high knowledge in the romance department; she would rather short term relationships than long since she would just get bored with having one boyfriend for endless months.

Ino grinned before throwing the dress towards the pinkette, who easily caught it due to her reflex skills. "Get dressed forehead, we're going out." She motioned her friend with her perfectly manicured finger towards the stairs.

"But I've already made plans with Shikamaru." Sakura retorted, cautiously settling the most likely expensive dress that the blonde had carelessly chucked at her. She inwardly knew that she would be forced to go, whether she liked it or not, Ino _always_got her way.

"Well you have to reschedule Sakura; I'm not going to let you miss out on anymore parties!" Ino whined childishly, her stern tone vanished as the word 'party' was included.

"Fine Ino." Sakura eventually broke down, not bothering to cause a pointless argument with the blonde as she quickly muttered a sorry to the silent Shikamaru before rushing out of the room to get upstairs, leaving behind a confused brunette and a bubbly Ino.

"I'm guessing you'll be taking Sakura to Uchiha's party, right Ino?" He immediately questioned once the pinkette was out of sight, he leaned against his fist as he narrowed his eyes at the blonde, who had already snapped up her pink phone.

"Yeah." She answered absentmindedly, as she flickered through lists of numbers until finally finding the wanted person as she pressed the call button. She waited for a moment before speaking.

"Oh good, you finally answer your phone Sasuke." Ino's sickly sweet voice rang through the phone, irritating both her friend and the male on the phone.

"What do you want _now _Ino? You've already bugged me this week." His blunt tone leaking in his voice as he spoke, but that didn't seem to affect the blonde as she brushed her honey dyed bangs out of her eyes.

"Listen Sasuke dear, I'm going to bringing a friend to the party and she _might_be able to help you with your situation." She offered casually, a knowing smirk settled itself on her face.

"Sigh, who's this girl then?"

Ino giggled, annoying the male further. "I'm afraid I can't tell you that Sasuke, you'll just have to find out yourself." She chimed happily, ignoring the protests of the male as she hung up.

"You _do _realize that Sakura's going to freak out when she meets him." Shikamaru shook his head at Ino's antics, as the blonde merely smiled innocently at him. "What Shika-kun? You have feelings for her now?" She teased lightly, as she checked her reflection in a nearby mirror and was glad to see that she looked as perfect as ever.

When she didn't receive a response, Ino instantly glanced towards the quiet brunette. "Uh, don't tell me you love her too?" She raised an eyebrow at him.

"Tch, I wouldn't say love, but...I think I'm starting to." He finally answered, feeling a little hesitant about speaking his mind as he rubbed his temples, feeling a headache slowly forming.

Ino sighed as she walked over to her friend; she leaned closer towards his ear. "Well, if you're serious about her then, I suggest that you win her over soon." She advised, lifting back up to see a surprised expression lingering on his face. "Unless you want her to fall for Sasuke or Sasori of course." She deliberately averted her eyes as she place her fingers on her chin thoughtfully.

"No!" He suddenly stood up, feeling slightly confused by his actions he awkwardly cleared his throat as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I mean, uh...no?"

"Don't worry Shika-kun; you'll probably win her over in the end." Ino smiled encouragingly, winking playfully.

Shikamaru returned the smile, his mood brightening as thoughts of Sakura entered.

"_Ino_, this dress is too small."

"Sakura, you look _fine_." Ino rolled her eyes, her gaze fixed on the window where they passed countless streets, as she attempted to ignore Sakura's further protests about her dress being too small.

"But _Ino_, why couldn't I wear one of my own dresses?" Sakura huffed, crossing her arms over her chest stubbornly.

Ino sighed before turning towards the pinkette, "Sakura, you don't own any dresses." She arched a slender honey blonde eyebrow.

"...I don't like dresses." Sakura stated averting her eyes away from Ino, earning a chuckle as the blonde merely patted her neatly done hair.

"Well, you look nice in dresses Sakura." Ino smiled, as the driver informed her that they will soon be arriving at the party. She nodded before looking back to the annoyed girl, who blew stray strands of her hair that fell out of her clip.

"Don't be like that Forehead, we're almost there—"

"Why is this party so important anyway?" Sakura cut her off, her emerald orbs clashed with hers as she raised an eyebrow. Ino inwardly cursed as she quickly thought of a good enough excuse.

"I didn't have anyone else to go with, so I picked you."

"Oh really? I'm touched that you decided to pick me out of all the other models you could have chosen." Sakura deadpanned, fed up with the strands falling over her eyes, she brushed them back behind her ear.

"It's alright Sakura!" Ino beamed happily, not aware of the fact that she was being sarcastic as the car just pulled up in front of the building where loud music was playing.

Sakura stared blankly for a moment before looking towards the excited blonde.

"Ino, you can't be serious. The party's _here_?" She blinked, the building looked like a place where Ino would normally work in, and that's a _big_building.

"Well _duh_, where else would you think it would be?" Ino smiled at the driver, who opened the door for her as she gracefully stepped out, Sakura following behind as she thanked the driver. Paparazzi were swarming around the place, where they were held back by a couple dozen security men pushing them back, away as guests entered the building.

She lifted a hand to cover her eyes as the artificial lights were aimlessly cast all around the room, once the entered the place, she felt her eardrums about to bust from the _extremely_loud music. There was a throng of bodies on the dance floor, the lights cast straight downward on them.

"I'll go get some drinks Sakura." Ino shouted over the music before blending into the crowds, leaving behind a protesting pinkette, who sighed as she leaned against a nearby wall. The blinding lights flashed over her for a moment before flowing over other people, Sakura uninterestedly played with the hem of the black bow that was attached to the strapless dress around her waist. The dark fabric was layered as it flowed over each other until it stopped at her knees.

She felt a presence beside her, thinking it was Ino she lifted her head to face familiar cinnamon colored orbs.

"Sakura?" He blinked, titling his head to the side, his red hair moving along. He stared at the pinkette for a moment before a smirk settled on his face.

'Uh...damn' Sakura thought, looking to the side for any sight of Ino, she cursed her bad luck. This just _had _to happen to her.

"Sasori, it's been a while." Sakura nodded, quickly composing herself as she smiled nicely at the male, who seemed to be preoccupied by something else.

"Yes, it's been too long." He sighed, reaching out to touch her stray stands absentmindedly. Not noticing that Sakura grew stiff as he smiled softy at her.

"Uh, yeah...well, it's nice seeing you but I have to go now." Sakura excused herself before walking away, until she felt a something holding her back before she found herself being hugged by the usually emotionless red head.

"I've missed you Sakura." He mumbled, nuzzling deeper within her tresses as he tightened his grip around his waist, before eventually pulling away and pressed a chaste kiss to her forehead.

Sakura couldn't help but feeling slightly enchanted by his kindness but quickly shook it off as she pushed him away. "Sasori—"

"Shh," He whispered, gently stroking her cheek. "I've been away from you for a too long, Sakura."

"Uh, yeah..." Sakura nodded dumbly, leaning closer towards his hand as he smiled. "Sakura, will you come live with me?" He inquired; seemingly unaware of the fact that he was taking advantage of her being enchanted by him.

"Yeah..." She mumbled, before realizing what she had just agreed to. "Wait! I mean no!" She said hastily, as she pushed away from him and into the crowds, quickly mixing along with the groups of people. She could vaguely hear his shouts over the deafening music as she easily slipped through the room and out the door.

She sighed in relief as she leaned against the cold brick wall, and ran a hand through her hair. She closed her eyes for a moment, in a poor attempt for the banging headache to flow away.

"Stupid Sasori." She muttered under her breath.

"I take it you're not enjoying the party?"

Quickly snapping her eyes open, she glanced over to the side where a dark raven haired male was standing; his face was hidden by the hoodie.

"You could say that." Sakura replied, sighing as she rubbed her arms, the cold was probably getting to her. She would've been able to grab a coat if it wasn't for that damned Ino, who insisted that it wasn't supposed to be that cold tonight.

"What about you?" She inquired, sniffing as she leaned her head back against the wall.

"Tch, honestly I hate parties." He answered, shrugging nonchalantly as he stared at the unusually hair colored girl who seemed to be cold, most probably forgot to bring along a coat with her.

Sakura chuckled "Yeah, me too." She agreed puffing out a breath as the warm air left her mouth. The moon illuminated the darkened sky as the stars were spread all around, instantly capturing her attention as she stared in wonder. She suddenly was brought back to reality when she felt something being draped over her shoulders, the pinkette looked over as the raven haired male was left with a navy shirt, with his hands stuffed within the depths of his pockets.

"Oh, you didn't have to give me this—"Sakura protested, as she started to unzip the clothing to give it back to the stranger.

"Its fine, besides you seemed cold." He said simply, not leaving any room for further argument. Sakura smiled shyly as she nodded in thanks, before returning her gaze back towards the sky where the stars were sparkling freely.

The male watched with interest as the girl looked on in sheer wonder, he sighed dejectedly. He was supposed to meet the girl that Ino was talking about. But she already knew that he hated being at parties when he had his own troubles to worry about.

Sakura felt her pocket vibrate as she quickly fished through them to find her phone, once she had retrieved it she found that she had gotten a few messages from Ino, no surprise there, but also _Sasori?_Oh yeah, he had somehow gotten her number, Sakura rolled her eyes at his affections for her.

"Listen, I have to go, my friend just texted me and—" She stopped talking when she took a closer look at the stranger, only to find it was _Sasuke Uchiha_, the male who had obliviously obtained her affections years ago, that is until she had discovered that he was just another playboy.

"Y-You're Sasuke..." She blinked; stepping back as she quickly shrugged out of the coat and threw in towards the startled male.

"Don't tell me, you're a fan?" He cocked an eyebrow as Sakura looked disgusted as she merely slapped him in response. He staggered backwards for a moment, his hand slowly reaching to his cheek where she had just slapped him.

"Heh, yeah _right_. Not every girl is your fan, _Uchiha_." She harshly spat out his name before pivoting on her foot to walk back inside to find Ino.

Finding her wasn't the problem; the real problem was to avoid Sasori at all costs. But obviously, it wasn't going to work out like that, once she spotted the blonde flirting shamelessly with some men, she instantly grabbed her away as she leaded them both towards the door.

"_Sakura dear?_ What's wrong, what's with the hurry?" She slurred, she must have had one too many drinks, as the pinkette could sense the bitter alcohol smell as it burned her nose.

"No time to explain Ino, we just have to go _now_." Sakura quickly opened the door, as the flashes of the cameras blinded her for a moment as she lifted a hand to avoid the lights. Ino on the other hand smiled drunkenly and waved.

Sakura rolled her eyes as she searched for any free taxies, but there didn't seem to be any as she heard faint calls that were directed towards her.

Suddenly, she felt Ino slip from her grasp and was held possessively from behind. The paparazzi quickly took photos of them, as the stranger bend down to her ear and whispered "Sakura, you thought you could escape me?"

'_Sasori_' she thought, as she struggled to escape his firm grasp. "Sasori, _let go of me now_." She hissed venomously, as she pushed away from the persistent male.

But just when she thought things couldn't get worse, they _did_.

"Sasori, let go of my _fiancé_."

* * *

**A/N2:**Hey guys! I probably would've been able to post this sooner if it wasn't for my headache -_- So did you guys like the chapter? I know this chapter isn't as long but I haven't had much time lately with all the homework and all.

Vote please ~on my profile! I'll probably try working on it next week? Depends on my work doesn't it? Is it just me, or is it strange that so far every male that Sakura's met in this story begins with 'S'? It would be funny if Sai won or something O_O

Please review!

Saku-chan


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